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Call for Critical Reviewers for 4th Edition of 1001 Inventions

The Foundation for Science, Technology and Civilisation (FSTC) is about to undertake a critical review of one of our most significant publications, the 1001 Inventions book. The review will be a thorough and fully open process and we invite all historians of Islamic sciences, medicine and technology, including our most critical colleagues, to support this initiative.

The Foundation for Science, Technology and Civilisation (FSTC) is about to undertake a critical review of one of our most significant publications, the 1001 Inventions book. The review will be a thorough and fully open process and we invite all historians of Islamic sciences, medicine and technology, including our most critical colleagues, to support this initiative.

FSTC endeavours to coordinate the work that helps fill in the gaps and inaccuracies in how history is told and taught in popular narratives and in most educational systems. A lot of the work focuses on the Muslim heritage and researching the inventions, discoveries and wisdom from this era, culture and civilisation. The reason for this focus is that we believe that it has been misrepresented or, in parts, excluded from the history told to us, our forebears and our children. FSTC commissions specific research and works with a wide range of reputable academics around the world, to build the most accurate history that we can.

As we know from this work, any history must be subject to critical scrutiny and almost continuous revision as new research casts new light and delivers new insight. This is true for the results of all of this work as it is for the history it seeks to correct. Nothing stands still and periodically we must encourage and commission critical reviews of our publications. This includes 1001 Inventionsbook.

An honorarium of £500 will be available for each reviewer and we are looking for 14 reviewers in total. Details of how to apply to be one of our reviewers are at the end of this article.

The Third Edition of 1001 Inventions Book: Enduring Legacy of Muslim Civilization (Source)

For those who are unfamiliar with the background, it was in 2006 that FSTC launched its public outreach initiative, 1001 Inventions. This was preceded by an invitation to all academics to contribute to the production of world class content. This attracted more than 1000 peer reviewed academic articles on the history of science, medicine and technology; from Chinese, Indian and Islamic cultures. The result was our web portal Muslimheritage.com. From this content, the first version of the book was produced and the first pilot exhibition staged, in the Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI), in the home of FSTC, Manchester in the United Kingdom. The exhibition has grown in stature, size and impact and travelled the world as a leading attraction at prestigious venues such as the London Science Museum, the New York Hall of Science, and the California Science Center.

HRH Prince Charles wrote the forward for the current 3rd Edition, warmly commending it to the reading public. It has been continuously developed since it was first published.

FSTC will coordinate the review of the 3rd Edition and introduce new content too, for the 4th Edition. It is with this initiative that we again seek the help and support of the wider academic community. There are seven sections in the book and we are looking for two reviewers for each section, in order to ensure that alternative perspectives on the content are available and a balanced view achieved. The results of the reviews will be included in the book and, in coordination with the authors, published on our website. The academic community at large will be able to observe the results and assess them openly and provide feedback if they desire. All feedback will be welcome and taken into consideration.

Each reviewer will be acknowledged as a contributor to the 4th edition, if they wish. The selection process for reviewers will commence on 01/08/2013 and complete by 31/08/2013, ready to start the review itself on 01/09/2013, to conclude by 31/12/2013*, ready for publication in early 2014*.

If you are interested in being a reviewer, please email 1001ireview@fstc.org.uk. This invitation will also be published on other websites and events, to encourage all our colleagues around the world to become involved.

*Due to demand of reviewers, the dates have been extended. The reviewers will receive modified chapters of edition3 as drafts of edition4 to ease the process. To allow for this process, the dates are now extended by 18 months.

FSTC "Multi-Faith Scientists in Islamic Civilization" Exhibition at the United Nations, New York (Source)